MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT: PA-Task Force 1 returns from Hurricane Florence deployment
WHO: Members of PA-Task Force 1
Fire Commissioner Adam K. Thiel
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 29, between 1-2 p.m. (tentative – check our Twitter account @PhillyFireDept for updates)
WHERE: 6601 New State Road, Philadelphia
About 80 members of PA-Task Force 1 will return to Philadelphia on Saturday after being deployed for nearly three weeks to respond to flooding caused by Hurricane Florence. The Philadelphia Fire Department sponsors PA-TF1, which is one of 28 federal urban search-and-rescue teams overseen by FEMA.
Deployment recap:
- PA-TF1 was activated Sept. 10 and arrived the following day at a staging site in Columbia, South Carolina.
- The group worked in Lake City, Florence, Dillon, Manning and Pawleys Island alongside local and state first responders, including the South Carolina National Guard.
- The bulk of the work was in Dillon, where PA-TF1 members searched/evaluated 622 structures and recovered one deceased civilian from a submerged car.
- The convoy left Pawleys Island on Friday morning and plans to spend the night in Virginia before arriving home Saturday afternoon.
- Some Task Force members returned early and were replaced. In all, about 90 members served in South Carolina; of those, about half work for the PFD. The others are first responders from across the Philadelphia region, including five dogs and their handlers.
- In between assignments in South Carolina, PA-TF1 conducted refresher training; celebrated two birthdays and one promotion; and sang “Happy Birthday” to a member’s 3-year-old daughter via FaceTime.
- One Task Force member (a PFD Battalion Chief) remains in Charlotte, North Carolina, to serve on FEMA’s Incident Support Team.
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